I am thinking of getting a Bull Mastiff. Can someone please tell me where to find a detailed, honest description of Bull Mastiffs: the pros and cons of this breed, ie, what is excellent about them, and also what are common health problems, behavioural problems, etc. Also: do they like a lot of exercise, do they like going for long walks in the mountains ?

thank you !

hugoanson@compuserve.com

If you do a search on here for "bullmastiff" you will find quite alot of information. I also found the Petlove guide to bullmastiffs very good. I am about to get my first bullmastiff and so far the only cons to the breed that I have found are that they are expensive both to buy and keep compared to alot of breeds. Excercise wise, because they are a large, fast growing breed, their excercise must be limited until they are grown, so walks on a mountain would be very limited for a while. HTH. Sam.

hi,
i have a bullmastiff bitch,she is 41/2 months old now and an absolute delight!!
she loves my kids and everybody elses,she loves other dogs,and she even thinks the cats are ok other than casper my male cat(he keeps hissing at her and she wont have that)
i am a novice,but must have read every book on bullmastiffs.
they are delightful friendly dogs,the only thing i would say is bullmastiffs seem to be fine with everyone and thing that is ok with them but like the instance with casper, they do not like things that try to challenge them(other than their owners of course zena is very submissive with the kids just not outsiders)
as for excersise zena does very little ,she plays fetch with the kids but when it comes to walks she would rather just lie down!.i take her out once a day for about 5 mins and thats enough for her.
although ive said this i have read articles where owners have said they are quite active although i cant believe it myself!!
if i could sum bullmastiffs up in a couple of words i would say they are very loving,loyal,calm,definately not hyper or yappy,attentive,laidback,simply a chilled out dog unless prevoked!!i love them and am looking to get a few more in the future!!!

Hi i wasnt to sure about replying to you, but here i go we have had Bullmastiffs for 23 years i done Rescue for 15 years and in that time we showed our dogs so with every thing we were doing alot with the breed one way or another, some of the rescues were puppies which people had bought at 8 weeks and by the time some of them had reached 6 months they had already bitten some one WHY lots of reasons bad breeding/ bad upbringing/ bad owners/ novice owners not aware of what they had bought no training letting dog get away with silly things but the dog taking over which any dog will do but to have a Bullmastiff as boss thats asking for trouble, but that doesnt mean that you can over power a Bullmastiff you cant it will not let you( i love my breeds very much other wise i would not own them) but i do know them very well and all my dogs are loved but they are dogs not humans dont make that mistake, respect for the dog and the dog will respected you, they are not lap dogs, hips are a problem/ cancer is a great problem /eyes / elbows/bloat. If you buy from a very good breeder that understands the breed well and there adults are sound in body and mind that is a good start, i think thats more than enough to go on. Jackie

Hi Guest,

I have two bullmastiffs. The older, a male, is 2 years old and the younger, a female, is 8 months. I find them excellent. They fit in really well with my household and lifestyle. Mine enjoy walking. The younger one is too small yet to go on long walks but we have had the older one hill walking in Skye and he loved it. Whenever we could find somewhere without sheep he would literally run in circles he'd get so excited. Woods, moors and beaches are the places he finds most exciting and the puppy is the same.

In the house mine tend to be calm and lie around sleeping most of the time.

Both my dogs adore meeting people when they're out on walks and love having people come to the house. My older dog is a PAT dog and I take him to a local old folk's home to visit once a month.

Both of mine get on with other dogs although they won't stand for being attacked. The male has been attacked several times and is now suspicious of dogs that he doesn't know. He'll leap on strange dogs with only the slightest of provocations which is a frightening sight with a dog the size of a bullmastiff. That said, so long as the dog provoking him is on a lead and can't actually make contact with him, he'll ignore it (he'll turn his back on it completely). With those that he does get to know he's lovely. He is particularly good with nervous bitches who don't like other dogs. He's friends with a collie, a jack russell and a GSD none of whom normally like big dogs with black faces.

My dogs live with 3 cats and they both adore the cats. The cats hate them and my female cat in particular will refuse to move away if the dogs come near. She just sits there growling and hissing at them. The poor dogs just whine and wag their tails at her until I come and take them away.

All that said, if you do decide to get a bullmastiff, remember that they grow into large and very powerful animals. I would now be incapable of physically overpowering my male or from using my strength to prevent him from doing anything. For that reason, it is important to get it right with a bullmastiff from the word go.

I was aware that would happen when I got him so I made sure that I got him used to me stopping in the street and talking to strangers and that we had lots of visitors to the house and that he met lots of other dogs.

I also work hard on obedience training my dogs. I do it when out on walks as they are a stubborn breed and I find that I can't get them to concentrate for long periods of time. So we do little bits on walks. A few recalls, a few stays etc. I use reward based training so they get bits of food (they're very food orientated) when they do what I want. I feel that having the dogs used to being bossed around by me in relaxed situations means that they are more willing to accept my guidance when it's a difficult situation.

I can, for instance, give my male a shower in my house. He loathes water, especially water pouring down on him and could easily destroy my shower cubicle if he really wanted out. But, when I decide to bath him, he goes into the cubicle and stands there quietly until I'm finished.

Also, if he is attacked by another dog, I can get him out of the fight by putting my hand on his collar or tail and telling him to stop. He always stops when asked and never tries to leap back into a fight once I've told him to stop even if the other dog still wants to have a go.

I suppose what I've been trying to say is that they're great dogs if you're willing to put in the work.

Tracey.

I would suggest, ringing a few breeders, owners and asking them i would also advise visiting a few people that own the breed and get to see the dogs in there home environment. Also attend a few shows where bullmastiffs are being shown and talk to people there.
This is what we did a few years ago now and we always encourage people who show and interest to come and visit us and see the dogs in our home with us and our children.
Good luck in your search.
Please feel free to contact me anytime.
Karen.